School mobile phone ban will help pupils focus

Education Secretary backs head teachers who say the move will help youngsters’ academic performance

LEADING head teachers have called for “phone-free schools” in a letter backed by Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary.

A group of 37 school heads and chief executives of multi-academy trusts, representing 120 schools in total, have spoken out against the “corrosive” effect mobile phones have on pupils. In a joint letter seen by The Daily Telegraph, the head teachers said there was “no place” for phones in schools, and that they “should not be used, seen or heard at any point, anywhere on the school site”.

Mr Hinds said he stands “four-square behind the head teacher who bans mobile phones”, adding: “Children in school should not be being distracted by their phones.”

Banning phones in schools delivers an average 6 per cent increase in test scores, according to an LSE study cited by Onward, a campaigning think tank, in a report. Pupils in schools with strict phone bans are 2 per cent more likely to achieve five A*s to C at GCSE, the study, which used data from 91 schools, showed.

Mr Hinds also called for parents to take action. “We shouldn’t kid ourselves though that action on phones in schools solves the issues around electronic devices,” he said.

“Excessive use, the addictive nature of some social media, the online bullying – this is mostly happening outside school hours, and indeed sometimes well into the night.

“Limiting screen time at home isn’t always easy, but that makes it no less important to parents.”

The Onward report called for Ofsted, the regulator, to examine mobile phone use as part of its inspection process and for the adoption of a new Kitemark system developed by Parents and Teachers for Excellence to allow parents identify “phone-free schools”.

The Kitemark would be used to accredit schools that ban pupils in Year 11 or below to use mobile phones at any point at school, and to discipline those who breach this without granted permission for “exceptional circumstances”. Signatories of the letter include Martyn Oliver, the chief executive of the 30-school Outwood Grange Academies Trust, Sir Dan Moynihan, of the 47-school Harris Federation, and Sir Nick Weller of the 11-school Dixons Academy Trust.

It said: “We encourage all school leaders to seriously consider the positive impact that following this policy could bring, and the learning that is lost when pupils are distracted by these devices – not to mention the issues caused by social media and other applications.

“Mobile phones open up a wondrous sense of opportunity, and they have in many ways made our lives much better. But there is no place for them in schools, and we encourage parents, teachers and school leaders to recognise that fact and act accordingly.”

Will Tanner, director of Onward, said: “Bans on mobile phones in school could dramatically improve pupils’ concentration, behaviour and attainment – and would be supported by parents and teachers alike.

“Every school should be going phone-free to support their children learning without distraction.” Writing in The Daily Telegraph last June, Matt Hancock, then culture secretary, warned of the “risks” of social media when he said head teachers needed to “follow the lead” of colleagues who ban phones during school hours.

He questioned why students required phones, citing that not only were they a distraction, but that they exposed children to cyber bullying.

Amanda Spielman, Ofsted chief inspector, told the Wellington College Festival of Education last year that there was “no doubt that technology has made the challenge of low-level disruption even worse, which is why I also support recent calls to back heads who have decided that the way to improve behaviour is to ban mobile phones in their schools”.